ONGC plans to invest Rs 1 lakh crore in the transition to a net-zero energy system by 2038

30 May 2023 , 09:48 AM

According to its chairman Arun Kumar Singh on Monday, ONGC, India’s largest oil and gas producer, will invest Rs 1 lakh crore by 2030 in energy transition projects as it strives to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2038. 

As part of the country’s commitment to addressing the climate crisis, the company collaborates with other state-owned oil and gas companies Indian Oil (IOC), Hindustan Petroleum (HPCL), GAIL, and Bharat Petroleum (BPCL) in developing roadmaps towards net zero emissions.

A corporation must balance the amount of greenhouse gases it releases into the atmosphere with the amount it removes in order to be considered net zero.

According to Singh, who spoke to ET reporters, ‘We have done our internal calculations and are now confident that we can achieve net-zero for Scope-1 and Scope-2 emissions by 2038.’

By 2030, the corporation wants to increase the amount of electricity produced from renewable sources from 189 MW to 1 GW. He added that ONGC would also look at offshore wind farms and that it currently has a project in Rajasthan with a 5 GW capacity and is looking for one with a similar capacity.

A 1 million tonne per year green ammonia plant is also being considered for construction near Mangalore.

‘Overall, the investments will be of the order of Rs 1 lakh crore,’ he stated.

In 2022–2023, the corporation stopped the downward trend in oil and gas production, and it is now trying to increase output with projects on both the East and West coasts.

In 2022–2023, ONGC produced 19.584 million tonne (MT) more oil than the previous year (19.545 MT). In the current fiscal year (April 2023 to March 2024), the output is predicted to increase to 21.263 MT, 21.525 MT in 2024–25, and 22.389 MT in the next fiscal year.

The projected increase in natural gas output is 20.636 billion cubic meters (bcm) in 2022–2023 to 23.621 bcm in 2023–2024, 26.08 bcm in 2025–26, and 27.16 bcm in 2026–2027.

This increase in output is the result of initiatives the company is putting into place on the east and west coasts to increase productivity in current fields and bring new finds into production.

14 development and nine infrastructure projects totalling Rs 61,200 crore are being funded, including the revival of Mumbai High North and Heera producing fields as well as the KG gas field.

According to Singh, ONGC has budgeted Rs 30,125 crore for capital expenditure in 2023–24, which is nearly the same as the Rs 30,208 crore spent in the prior fiscal year.

The corporation, which now possesses 1.62 lakh square kilometers of land, hopes to increase that amount to 5 lakh square kilometers by purchasing one lakh square kilometers each year and investing Rs 10,000 crore each year on exploration.

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